Of the countless trains running on Japan's 20,000-kilometer (12,000-mile) rail network, a few are decorated with images of anime and manga characters, colorful ads, and designs by notable artists. Here is a small sample.

Japanese characters can occasionally be found on trains in other countries. This photo shows Pichon-kun, the robot mascot of Japanese air-conditioning manufacturer Daikin, on the side of the Skytrain in Bangkok, Thailand.

20 Comments

Anzi

I actually live in Shikoku and the Anpanman train is ridiculously popular. I kind of love it myself, it makes everybody happy when it goes by. And once a year all my students at the local kindergartens go on an Anpanman Train field trip. It's the highlight of their year.

I'd like to make a small correction to one of your captions; the photo labelled with "Kamen Rider train" actually shows a Super Sentai series, not Kamen Rider, which was also created by Shotaro Ishinomori. This particular group is Himitsu Sentai Goranger. Of course, it's very possible that the train shows one or more of the many Kamen Riders created by Shotaro Ishinomori, but this particular picture is not of them.

H

Love it or leave it... On one hand, decision making in Japan is a real pain in the ass, on the other hand, old, large companies like JR & Co make dreams come true and don't hesitate to get manga & other trains on the track. Definitely a reason to stay here (although I'm not fond of manga)

Eilish

marka

Wow! I really love what they've done to the trains in Japan but I do feel that they've blatantly taken the 'idea' from what was originally done in the 70's/80's on NYC's infamous subways & what eventually spread worldwide to every countrys railways,freights & subway networks from londons underground tubes.paris,amsterdam.moscow,right across europe & as far as south africa & australia & they've cleverly done it in a corporate way. Commiting 'Graffiti' however is still for the main part illegal & individuals & crews are appraended & investigated & if caught face increasingly large fines or stiff & often lengthy jail sentences. I predicted a few years ago as the authorities have began to clamp down on graffiti offenders,increase security measures *aspecially here in London!* & the less likelyhood of 'graffitied up' trains 'running' that train & advertising companies were starting to 'borrow' *or should be take/steal* the ideas & techniques that were used by graffiti artists/vandals from NYC & graffiti artists/vandals across the world since the last 3 decades of last century.....of course the railway companies or indeed the advertisers would NEVER hold their hands up to this & admit it would they?????????? Please let's show alittle honesty & respect here. The idea of having 'cartoons' & other visual images on the interior & exterior of a train is firmly rooted with what all those young & many ghetto kids from NYC were doing 40 years ago & what started as a simple scrawl or tag has evolved into & evolved into the inspirational & beautifully complex artform that it is today.....would be nice if the graffiti artists got a chance to shine on the trains but maybe try to work alongside the railway companies rather than against them & under the cover of darkness risking arrest,heavy fines & long prison time. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING & PEACE FROM LONDON-UK